A Discussion of Strategy
by Addicted1
Summary: Missing scene for Ep. 2.8 Into the Deep. I find it hard to believe that neither Regina nor Mr. Gold anticipated the conclusion of that episode. In this missing scene, Regina tries to talk Prince Charming out of his decision. Minor Henry appearance. One shot. Not shippy.


Regina sighed in frustration. This Prince Charming of Snow's was completely pig-headed, and she was quickly losing her patience with him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Charming. What if you don't snap out of it? Do you really think the people of this town are going to accept leadership from me? Or from him? They are going to think we killed you. They are going to think we did it on purpose, and they are going to try to kill us. And, when we defend ourselves, they are going to get seriously, seriously hurt."

"But, Mom," Henry protested. "You said you wouldn't use magic! You promised!"

"Shh, Henry," Regina turned to her son. "I am not using magic to do evil. But, you cannot expect me not to defend you with every resource at my disposal should it be necessary."

Henry's eyes were downcast, but he reluctantly nodded his head.

James had avoided looking at either of them. Despite the fact that accepting advice from Regina nearly made him physically ill, he knew that she was not wrong. If he did not wake up, Storybrooke would come apart at the seams.

But, he was a man of action, and a man of faith. Doing nothing grated against his very nature, and the idea of staying on the sidelines while his wife and daughter were in jeopardy was unthinkable.

Seeing that she had not yet convinced the Prince not to curse himself, Regina addressed her son, "Henry, dear, would you please give Charming and I a moment alone?"

He looked at her sharply. She was almost surprised that his instinctive reaction of distrust could still hurt her.

"I'm not going to hurt him. I promise." Regina looked Henry in the eye, willing him to sense her sincerity. "I just want to talk to him. I want to make sure that we think about this from every possible way so that we can get your mom and your grandmother back safely without anyone else getting hurt."

She couldn't believe she had been able to refer to Emma and Snow as his mother and grandmother. Acknowledging their claim on _her_ son had nearly choked her, but she had to protect him, and—what a state her life was in—she couldn't do that without Prince Charming.

"But!" Henry protested. "Whatever you are going to talk about; I want to hear it too! Like you said, they are my family; I deserve to hear it too! Especially since I discovered Aurora in the first place!"

Regina had to suppress a smile. Henry was so smart and strong-willed that it was easy to forget that he was still a child—most of the time. But then he would incorporate playground rules into his arguments, and she would be forcefully reminded of his youth.

"You did discover her, Henry, and that has already made a huge difference, but I need to speak to Charming, and, while you may be ready to be all grown-up, I am not ready for you to be. There are some things that I don't want you to have to think about just yet."

Henry would never admit it, but there were several stories in his book that he wished he'd never read, because they still gave him nightmares. And his mother was the stuff of other people's nightmares, so if she thought something was scary, then it must be really scary. While he was practically itching with curiosity, he was okay with letting the Evil Queen and Prince Charming, however unlikely a pair, protect him for a little while. Besides, he knew he could get the important parts out of James later.

"Okay." Henry agreed, as he left the room. At least she had talked to him like a person, and not just ordered him around like a little kid that couldn't understand anything.

Once Regina was satisfied that Henry was not listening through the door, she turned to James and spoke carefully.

"We have no idea if she'll be able to wake you up—we don't understand much about the Netherworlds. Beyond that, we don't even understand how magic works here in Storybrooke. There is a distinct chance that you will not wake up from this." She waited for her words to sink in before continuing.

"I know you don't want to admit this possibility, but, if something happens to you, and we can't get Snow White and Ms. Swan back, then I'm the only one left with Henry." She couldn't help a smirk at the thought. How she would love to return to her role as the sole parent in Henry's life! But those days were gone. Shaking off her sudden despondency, she said, " While I would be completely all right with taking care of Henry without Ms. Swan or any of you, I am not that short-sighted. Are you?"

She could tell that he hadn't yet figured out where she was going with this. Time to spell it out for him.

"If Snow White and Ms. Swan don't make it back, it will be because my mother has destroyed them."

It was at this point, that he actually looked at her. "Like you care," he spat through gritted teeth.

Regina merely smirked at his anger. "You're right. I don't really care, except that it would hurt Henry, and I don't want Henry hurt," she explained almost casually. "But, you're right. I wouldn't miss either one of them. Or you, as a matter of fact." She noticed that James was seething with rage, which, while she enjoyed it, was just a pleasant side effect of her strategy.

All casualness gone, in a manner that wasn't the Evil Queen or Madam Mayor, but was just the unvarnished truth—General to General; Parent to Parent, she spoke.

"James, if they don't make it back, then it means my mother has. And she will destroy me. But she won't kill me. She'll kill Henry instead."

He was still angry, but she could see that his reason had regained control. "How am I supposed to protect him if you can't? I don't have that kind of power."

Glad that he was at least participating in the discussion, Regina responded, "You may not have to protect him if she doesn't know that I love him. If he's with you . . . well, Cora will come up with another way to torture me. One that doesn't involve Henry."

"And what if she already knows about him?"

Regina met his gaze with fierce determination. "Then I will give you two the longest head start I can."

James contemplated her response, his anger taking a backseat to the strategic problem at hand. "So what, then, are you proposing? That we let Henry go back there to face certain injury and perhaps death in a fiery Netherworld so that he might live an hour longer in this one if Cora makes it here? That doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't. And of course, I'm not suggesting we send Henry back there. I'm suggesting that we find someone else to accept the sleeping curse."

"Like who? You?" James scoffed. "Pretty sure no one in this town loves you enough to wake you back up." The anger was back, but his tone was level. "Actually, that is starting to sound like a pretty good idea."

"Ha. Ha," Regina responded flatly. "I would prefer for it to be someone that we are fairly confident that we can wake up, in the event that Ms. Swan and her companions have information about Cora that we need."

"And," she continued. "As you so aptly noted, my true love is . . . unavailable."

James looked a bit guilty for a moment but focused his attention back on her as she resumed speaking.

"However, you and I are not the only fairy tale characters living in this town, and we are not the only ones with true love in our stories. We actually have several pairs of 'true loves' who could potentially help us."

"And we are supposed to expect these people to be okay with letting you poison them?" James said, his skepticism clear.

"I'm sure you can convince them," Regina replied. "You are, after all, Prince Charming."

"Yeah, and you're the Evil Queen. So, like I said, how are we supposed to get them to trust you enough to curse themselves? I know why I would do it. I am desperate to get my family back and keep them safe. No one else in this town has that motivation," he said as he paced around the room.

"Not quite. They don't need to rescue their family. That is true. But they do need to protect their family," she stated. "Every person in this town has a stake in keeping Cora out of it. If she makes it here, not one of us is safe."

"All the more reason to send the best person for the job," The Prince was resolved. "Do any of these other 'true love pairs' consist of people with my battle experience? Do any of them have any completed quests to their name? Would any of them have any idea of the possible hell they would have to endure to make it back in one piece?"

Regina reluctantly confirmed the Prince's conviction. "No."

"Then that settles it. I will be the one that travels to the Netherworld under your sleeping curse. I will find my wife, tell her how to defeat Cora, kiss her, and come home. And my wife and my daughter will not be far behind me."

Regina had to admit that the Prince's courage and determination were impressive—if only she believed that would be enough.

**_Please review._**


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